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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. bore — to drill
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitch — completely
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. row — a line
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. row — to paddle
  12. bore — to tire
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. shower — to wash
  15. cold — an illness
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. trunk — of an elephant

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com